Who out there knows that February is National Heart Health Month? Kinda coincidental that red hearts go right with Valentines day huh? However, Heart Health is no laughing matter. Did you know that heart disease is the 1 killer of women in the United States? It ranks above every form of cancer combined. One in 3 women each year die from heart disease, and it’s not just something you need to worry about when you get old! It can affect you when you are young too…aka 20-30′s! While I haven’t had someone in my family pass away from heart disease, high cholesterol does run in my family, which can be a pre-cursor to heart disease! So I am already thinking about ways to keep myself healthy. I get regular exercise, which is great for heart health, and make sure I include foods in my diet that help lower cholesterol. One of the best foods out there are oats. Plain simple oats!
I love oatmeal! I try to eat it at least a couple times a week for breakfast, and I could get even better and eat it more often. Peanut is already following my lead too. He LOVES oatmeal! He likes the instant packs and loves picking out his flavor, opening it, pouring it in the bowl, stirring in the milk and pushing the buttons on the microwave… things a 2 year old LOVES! My favorite way to enjoy my oats (old-fashioned) is with an egg and egg white lightly beaten and a handful of mixed frozen berries thrown in before it cooks with just a dash of cinnamon. After, I stir in a small scoop of coconut oil and a swirl of agave nectar and pour a little milk over the top…MMM MMM! It is SO good! Sometimes I will swap out the berries for apples and more cinnamon, usually in the fall. In honor of National Heart Health Month, I also made some of Quaker’s awesome oatmeal cookies!
Peanut LOVES them, as do Mom and Dad!! I got the recipe here!
This month, Quaker, the company that has been committed to nourishing America’s families with heart-healthy whole grain oats for more than a century is continuing their commitment through their support of the American Heart Association’s “Go Red For Women” movement. More than 600,000 women’s lives have been saved, but the fight is far from over. Go Red For Women encourages women to put their health first. To learn more about the risks associated with heart disease (you’d be surprised what sneaky ones there are that are easy to overlook!!), Breakfast sweepstakes, where one lucky winner and a guest will be given a chance to get away for a few days, enjoy a spa treatment, and dine at Siena Tavern in Chicago. All you have to do to enter is watch the video and then share it on Twitter using hashtag #QuakerLove. The contest runs so be sure to watch soon! The winner will be chosen at random after the contest closes. And if you don’t win the Grand Prize, 15 lucky runner-ups will win a Quaker’s Epic Hot Breakfast prize pack, complete with Quaker Oats, signed items from Fabio Viviani, and additional items to help start your day.
